Nuanen
by MatchstickBookman
Summary: A young girl arrives at the edge of the Varden near Dras-Leona but there is something about her, something different. What special destiny does she hold and what does it have to do with Eragon and Saphira?


**((This story takes place during the 4th book, Inheritance. The Varden are making plans to attack Dras-Leona as Eragon is being instructed by Glaedr, who has finally returned from his despair after the lost of his rider, to fight both physical and mental battles. Now, this is where it goes in a kind of different direction. I've only read up the bit I just wrote so I'm making it up from this point on.))**

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><p>The sun rose slowly over the sea of tents that were spread over the empty fields just north of Dras-Leona. The smell of mud and sweat was strong and the sound of boots trampling through the mud was a common sound. In the sea of tents of the Varden's camp, one seemed to stand out compared to the rest. The tent was at least three times the size of all the other tents with a large open space next to it. The flaps of the tent were suddenly pushed aside as a young man exited. His dark brown, leather armor had been placed tightly around him, covering up any places that were open to attacks. He didn't appear to be human however. His facial features were sharper and ears were pointier compared to other humans. No, he was human but his looks were slowly changing so he would appear to be an elf. That was the effect of being the one of his kind. A kind that was special and had joined forces with powerful creatures known as dragons. Yes, he was a Dragon Rider. The last free Dragon Rider who wasn't controlled by Galbatorix.<p>

He looked up at the sky, noticing the smoke rising from the newly lit fires from surrounding tents. As he turned to look at the empty space beside his tent, he felt something touch his mind and familiar voice echoed in his mind.

_'Good morning, little one' _said a sweet voice that belonged to a female.

A smile appeared on his face at the sound of voice as he looked back at the sky once more. He had known the one, who belong to the voice his head, since she was born and they were almost always together.

_'Good morning, Saphira' _he replied back happily. _'I trust you had a good sleep._ _Where are you?' _

His question was followed by a small chuckle from the voice.

_'I slept as much as I could. Just give me a moment'_ replied Saphira.

Suddenly, his ears picked up a faint sound in the distance. As it got closer and louder, he realized what the sound was. To anyone who wasn't familiar with the sound, it would have sounded like thunder but it wasn't that. It was the sound of two rather large wings flapping against the wind. Out of the corner of his eye, something shined a little blue colour as it flew towards him. With a loud thump, a blue creature with giant wings landed before him. He watched out of the corner of his eye a group of soldiers flinched as the creature landed before him. The creature's held its head up high with its long neck. It flapped its wings a couple of times, its blue scales shining in the sunlight.

'_You're quite scary, Saphira' _he thought to her as she lowered her head down to his height, allowing him to pat her nose gently '_You're a fearful dragon.'_

She chuckled again in his mind. She wasn't able to actually speak through her mouth, only through minds but mostly to her Rider. It was consisted impolite to talk to a Rider's dragon unless they speak to you or you're allowed too.

'_You're quite scary too, Little one' _she replied happily '_shall we go for a ride, Eragon?'_

Eragon kept a hand on Saphira's shining scales, tracing along her body has he moved to her back. A saddle seemed to have already been placed on her back.

'_Did Arya place your saddle on?' _He asked her curiously.

'_I knew you were going to say yes so I asked Arya to put it on me to save you some time' _she replied.

'_You know me too well, Saphira' _he said as he lifted himself up to the saddle and sat down.

'_I know' _she replied she chuckled again.

He shifted in the saddle for a moment, trying to find the most comfortable position to sit in. Normally, he didn't like it when other people placed Saphira's saddle on for him. It wasn't that he didn't like people he didn't and did trust near her, no one else could get the saddle in the right spot where he would be comfortable while flying. Once he stopped shifting in the saddle, he leaned and patted the side of Saphira's neck, signalling to her that he was ready.

'_Remember, hold on tight' _she said happily.

'_Saphira, we've been flying for ag...' _he began to say but before he could finish, Saphira like out a huge roar and jumped off the ground, flapping her wings quickly.

With each flap from her wings, they climbed higher and higher into the air till they were flying above the camp site. The wind rushed past Eragon's ears as they circled the camp. It had been awhile since Eragon and Saphira had flown together that wasn't into the heat of a battle. He leaned over slightly and studied the ground below him. He remembered the first day he had ridden Saphira. The terror he felt as they dived off the cliff but then the absolute joy of having the wind rush pasted his ears and being able to view the landscape from a higher view and seeing Brom riding below. Oh, how he missed his father.

'_Eragon...' _Saphira interrupted suddenly, snapping him out of his depressing memory. '_I hear a girl shouting angrily below...'_

He had forgotten that her senses where stronger than his so she was able to hear, smell and see better then him.

'_What do you hear, Saphira?' _He asked her.

She didn't reply but instead she started descending down to the ground. As they got lower, the people on the ground became cleared to him. Before he knew it, Saphira had landed with a great thudded on the edge of the camp. It took him a moment to realize why they were here. At the entrance to the camp, two guards stood at their posts. They were dressed up in the same leather bound armor and had steel swords. In-between them was a young girl, she looked no older than 16 years old. She also wore leather bound armor but her armor looked more worn out compared to the soldiers and had a long, iron sword strapped to her back. Her hair was tied back in a quick pony tail with two bits of hair hanging down in front of her face. All three stared at Saphira and Eargon but he noticed something odd. He noticed that the two guards looked like they were ready to attack, I guess having a dragon land suddenly near them would have sacred anyone but not the girl. She stood strong and silent, as if this was normal to her. Eragon slid off the saddle and landed on the ground. As he turned, he saw the guards relax once more as they realized it was only Eragon and Saphira.

"Is there problem here?" He asked curiously. "Saphira and I were flying above when she heard something, thought we should come and help sort things out."

The guards looked at one another before turning their attention to the girl standing between them. One guard grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her a little.

"Let me go!" She shouted at the guard, trying to pull away from the guard's grip.

"This girl wants to join the Varden. Judging by her size and face, she looked no older then 15/16. We can't let someone so young join."

"I want to join!" She continued to shout.

'_She is just a youngling, Eragon. She shouldn't want to join such a dangerous cause at her age' _Saphira said to Eragon. _'She should just return home.'_

Eragon nodded a couple of times while he thought about Saphira's words in his mind.

"I want to fight. I have my reasons why I want to join the Varden!" The girl shouted as she turned to Eragon. "Just please, let me prove myself!"

After a minute of thinking, Eragon signaled for the guard to release the girl. As the guard let go of her, she quickly moved her arm away from him. Eragon slowly walked over to the girl and stopped just in front of her. She looked up at him, her pale green eyes glaring at the famous Dragon Rider. His remained blank but had a serious expression on his face.

"Here's the deal" Eragon said as a small smile grew on his face, "Fight me and I'll see you are worthy to join us at your young age.

As soon as he spoke the words 'fight me', the girl's eyes widen in terror. She opened her mouth, about to speak, but nothing came out.

"Shadeslayer, you shouldn't have to burden yourself with such a task." said one of the guards in shock.

"Hljödhr" Eragon replied in the Ancient Language when he felt slightly angry or annoyed at whoever he was speaking too. "I have decided I will do it."

The guard fell silent and then the two guards bowed with one hand across their chests.

"Understood, Shadeslayer." They both replied.

Eragon turned away from the guards and back to the girl.

"What is your name?" He asked her with a smile.

The girl stood silently for a minute before finally replying to him.

"M-My name is Nuanen." She replied nervously.

"Nuanen" Eragon repeated. "'Beautiful' in the Ancient Language, a perfect name for you."

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><p><strong>((Ancient Language translation<strong>

**Hljödhr- Silent**

**Nuanen- Beautiful ))**


End file.
